Kurt Gwartney

As residents in Oklahoma pick up the pieces of their lives, there are many agencies and organizations providing disaster relief. KGOU has compiled a list of resources to aid in the recovery.

Updated 7am, May 23, 2013

The state medical examiner's office has revised the death toll from a tornado in an Oklahoma City suburb to 24 people, including seven children.

Spokeswoman Amy Elliot said Tuesday morning that she believes some victims were counted twice in the early chaos of the storm.

Authorities said initially that as many as 51 people were dead, including 20 children.

Teams are continuing to search the rubble in Moore, 10 miles south of Oklahoma City, after the Monday afternoon tornado.

Gov. Mary Fallin is expected to sign a bill heading her way that would provide $7.1 billion to fund state government.

The state Senate gave final legislative approval to the general appropriations bill Tuesday that increases spending by nearly $270 million over the current year’s budget.

Eight Republicans joined the dozen Senate Democrats in opposing the legislation.

Oklahoma prison workers say they are worn out due to staffing shortages, low wages and the increasing prison population.

About a dozen uniformed prison guards visited the state Capitol Wednesday, urging lawmakers to reconsider their decision not to support a pay raise for workers at the Department of Corrections.

“DOC is at a breaking point,” said Sgt. David Edelman, an officer at the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center. “We are being forced to do 60-to-80 hours a week, and used to we could ask for overtime, but not anymore, we’re being forced.”        

A $12 million proposal to give prison workers a five percent pay increase stalled earlier this session in a House committee.

The Oklahoma House has approved a bill to create a defined contribution option for state employee retirement benefits.

The proposal would allow state employees hired after July 2014 to choose between the defined contribution option and the current defined benefit system. The House approved the bill 72-20 Tuesday, sending it to Gov. Mary Fallin.